Body Language Researchers Discover New Form of Non-Verbal Communication

Near Harvard - A team of experts from The Body Shop's Center for the Investigation of Non-Verbal Communication in Cambridge have announced the discovery of a previously undescribed form of non-verbal communication that the researchers are calling mega expressions.

A toddler with Pediatric Asshole Disorder, shown here silently screaming into the void after several days of being denied the right to extra pudding and moments before being eaten by a bear. Bet you didn't see that coming!

"Micro expressions typically occur within a fraction of a second and reveal our hidden emotions," lead researcher Tamara Brumford-upon-Charles explained. "And macro expressions are normal facial muscle movements that last a bit longer, maybe up to four seconds, and match accompanying verbal or corporeal output. Mega expressions, however, are an entirely new phenomenon that we are only just beginning to understand."

Unlike verbal communication and gestures, like the hand wave, the OK sign, or Salisbury shoulders (rapidly alternating unilateral shoulder lifts indicating mild annoyance), which often require sociocultural context to interpret, facial expressions are a universal system of signaling moment-to-moment emotional variations. According to Brumford-upon-Charles, the face is a window into the inner workings of the people in our lives. "It doesn't matter where we come from or what language we speak, all of us share a common non-verbal language which is now more fully fleshed out by the discovery of mega expressions."

Rather than merely exaggerated facial expressions held for a longer period of time, or pathological conditions like chronic eye roll (oculos revolutus) or stage 4 resting bitch face, mega expressions are subtle and nuanced expressions representing an intense inner turmoil or rage. Brumford-upon-Charles, who was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting stink eye when she was in her thirties, believes that while human mega expressions likely evolved millions of years ago, they are increasing in prevalence. "Once you've seen one person screaming into the void during a work meeting, or silently judging a stranger's life choices, you'll see them everywhere."